Nuim Khaiyath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Subject: semoga jangan bosan
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2006 10:59:11 +1000
From: "Nuim Khaiyath" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
"FASTING - A DISICIPLINE TO CONSCIOUSLY
REFRAIN FROM COMMITTING THE PERFECT CRIME"
(Delivered at the Iftar Celebration by The Indonesian
Muslim Community of Victoria 07-10-06)
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Bros.&Sisters in Islam:
Obviously after 1427 years, since the injunction to fast for muslims was
revealed, there isn't much else that can be discussed about this ritual without
the possibility of repeatitiveness.
However, every so often new developments come to light about fasting, in
particular the benefits thereof.
Such as this:
After 24 to 36 hours without food, the body switches to detox mode. The lungs,
liver, kidneys, bowels and skin begin to release accumulated toxins.
Thus says a report on fasting and health.
And: the eliminative organs mentioned before, spring into action to release
accumulated toxins and depending on the amount of gunk seeking exodus, lethargy
or discomfort can strike.
After all we know now that everytime we have to undergo a blood test, we have
to fast 10 to 12 hours before; likewise before undergoing surgery, a patient is
also required to fast, and when we are ill, our bodies want to fast to
encourage healing.
No wonder then Moses, Jesus, The Buddha, fasted. The Indian leader Mahatma
Gandhi fasted; the Greek philosophers Socrates and Plato did likewise,
Pythagoras - the one famous for his geometric theorem - fasted. The father of
medicine Hippocrates, subscribed on the basis that "when you feed the sick, you
feed the disease", while Mahatma Gandhi called fasting an institution as old as
Adam - the beginning of humankind.
"A genuine fast," according to Gandhi, "cleanses the body, mind and soul."
Others say fasting rejuvenates, the skin glows, the eyes brighten, even the
teeth whiten.
How then does Islam view fasting, and the benefits thereof?
Islam, being a balanced religion - rabbana atinaa fi dunnia hassanah, wa fil
akhirati hassanah - divides the time of fasting and non fasting, almost equally
and fasting in Islam is designed to attain both physical and spiritual - mind
and body - renewal.
The Islamic Holy Scripture says fasting is intended to make the faster Allah
conscious. It is Allah's hope that we, muslims, be conscious of Him, so that we
will refrain from doing bad deeds, even if we are assured that we will never be
found out.
We become our own policeman through our faith - and this is being refreshed
every year.
This is the ultimate in self disicipline - not transgressing, not violating
norms and laws, not because of fear of apprehension, but because it is
inherently wrong and evil.
As such the Islamic way of fasting has not changed since first ordained by
Allah.
In Catholicism, for example, the injunction to fast has changed numerous times
- usually determined by the Pope - the leader of the church, elected by his
fellow cardinals - and once elected assumes a position of infallibility and
governs the church usually until he dies.
But Islam, as usual is steadfast and no human intervention is allowed in
matters of faith, for this will surely lead to corruption.
Hence there is a tendency to assume, even believe, that after 1427 years since
its establishment, there is nothing new that can be said or commented upon
regarding fasting the Islamic way.
It is wise to remember that being a Muslim is not a state of being, but more a
state of becoming, a state of evolving. Or as Our Prophet Muhammad saw has
counselled:
"Let your today be better than your yesterday and your tomorrow be better than
your today".
There is an encouragement in that hadits for Muslims to ever strive towards a
better goal. This is what jihad is all about, and Islam, the realistic religion
recognises that the greatets jihad that a muslim can undertake is againts his
own desires.
So much so that if every individual, every component, or the majority of
individuals or components in a society have attained to a life of ma'roof, ever
upholding that which is good and right and ever refraining and preventing
others from behaving badly or wrongly, then that much aspired state of
"baldatoon thaiyiibatoon wa rabbooon ghafoor" - a blessed state would have been
realised.
In the Western language this is the Utopia or Shangrila much dreamed of by many
of their writers and poets.
Bros.&Sisters in Islam - rahimakumullah:
Fasting during Ramadhan - and indeed just whenever it is undertaken - has that
unique benefit - the moulding of a self that should be pure and enlightened.
Just imagine: It is Ramadhan. It happens to be the height of summer when it is
hot, very hot and the days are long, very long, before the night arrives. What
is there to prevent a hasting Muslim from going somewhere out of other people's
sight to furtively drink and eat, unbeknown by family and neighbours, so that
you can still claim to be fasting. However, I am sure, many, even most if not
all of us, wont do it. Why? Nobody, noone will know. Your secret is intact.
Still no, because you believe, rightly, Allah will know, and you are ashamed of
deceiving yourself in front of Allah. So you dont and wont do it, even though
this is a perfect crime.
Imagine then if you take this attitude a step further in your every day life
and refuse most emphatically from committing just about any crime, even if
assurances abound that you will never ever be found out by the authorities.
Still no. The opportunity to commit the perfect crime passes away because you
feel ashamed to Allah. Imagine, the chance to prove wrong the dictum that
"crime doesnt pay" and you let it pass by. Incredible!
Islam is indeed a unique religion and when we talk about Islam, we must never
ever forget our Holy Scripture, for in it you will find not only homilies and
matters about rituals, but more, much more, including, surpirse, surprise,
statements of scientific nature, though revealed when paper wasn't yet
invented, yet are now acknowledged as correct.
The Qu'an has been described as "an inimitable symphony, the very sounds of
which, especially when recited by genius as Abdul Basit Abdussamad et tal will
move Muslim men and women, even those who do not understand Arabic, to tears of
piety and ecstasy.
It is not just the heightened language and poetic nature of the Qur'an that
mesmerise, but more than anything else its incredible and enlightening contents.
Many non Muslims have tried to denigrade this Holy Scripture, among other
things by mistranslating its verses to mislead, if possible other Muslims who
are not well versed in the Quranic language.
However, the eloquent French surgeon and author of "The Bible, The Qur'an and
Science", Maurice Bucaille, acknowledged that he "was suprised to find
statements in The Qur'an on natural pehenomena whose meaning can only be
understood through modern scientific knowledge."
Such as verse no 5 in Azzumar - The Crowd, Chapter 39:
"Yookawwirool laila 'alannaahar
Wa yookawwiroonnahaar 'ala lail".
Here the important verb is "kawwara" which in the original Arabic means "to
coil a turban around the head".
According to Maurice Bucaille this is a totally valid comparison; yet at the
time the Qur'an was revealed, the astronomical data necessary to make this
comparison were still unknown.
What the aforementioned ayat or verse means is this:
"He (Allah) causes the night to flow into the day and causes the day to flow
into the night."
Imagine 1427 years ago, the Muslims were confronted with this verse. Because of
their faith they just accepted it as the truth, whatever its real meaning.
But, as the French surgeon Maurice Bucaille says, this is a natural phenomenon
and only with modern scientific knowledge can we understand its real meaning.
And that "modern scientific knowledge" happened in July 1969 when man first
landed on the moon - Neil Armstrong.
>From the lunar landscape, the American astronots aimed their television camera
>to our earth, which as its nature, kept revolving, and we on earth beheld this
>globe of ours ever flowing from darkness - night - to light - day - on and on,
>continuously. Just as the Holy Scripture says it - only it first said it 1425
>years ago.
And listen to this ayah
"Fal yaoma nu najjika bi badanika
Li takuna liman khalfaka ayaa ta(n)".
(Jonah X-92)
"But today We shall save only thy body
So that thou mayest be a (warning) sign unto those who will come after thee."
The body that Allah saw promises to preserve was that of the Egyptian Pharoah.
Archeologically speaking, this happened some 1200 years before the Christian
Era. But in 1896 - archeologist Moret discovered in the Valley of the Kings in
Luxor, Egypt, a mummy later certified as The Pharoh Maniptah - The Persecutor
of Prophet Moosa as. In 1908 Elliot Smith received permission to uncover the
mummy and there was the intact body - badanika - as the Qur'an says.
Subhanallah.
Bros. in Islam:
Almost everyday we come across another article or column ridiculing Islam.
Just a few days ago the senior columnist of The Age newspaper - considered as
one of the ten best newspapers in the world - in his column titled "Impprting
extremism, says, and I quote:
"There is also such a thing as Islamic imperialism. This explains why so many
new mosques in Southeast asia, sponsored by Saudi money, are being built in the
architectural style of the Arab world. It is why 80 percent of Muslims live
outside the Arab world, YET ALL MUST BOW TO MECCA."
Presumably it is very okay to build just about anything in the style of English
architecture, or gothic or German, or French. or Chinese, or Japanese, or just
about any other style, as long as it is not in the style of the Arab world.
And facing Mecca while performing the salat - ISLAMIC IMPERIALISM.
No mention whatsoever that although Jesus, 'alaihissalam, was born in the
Middle East, yet it is okay to transfer the centre of the Catholic Church to
Rome.
Or the Anglican Church having its centre in Canterbury, England. This is
freedom of choice.
If anything it is the hijacking of an authentic religion, Christianity, and
then manipulating it to suit the taste or style of Europeans.
Borthers in Islam, we need to pity these people, especially our fellow brown
and dark skinned brothers who have been duped into embracing this man-made
religion.
You want proof of its man-made-ness?
Here is an article from the Australian newspaper, just several days ago.
Under the heading "Catholic Church's warning: the Bible is not all gospel".
Its says: The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has published a teaching
document instructing the faithfull that some parts of the Bible are not
actually true.
Quoting one high ranking Church official, the report further says:
"We should not expect to find in scripture full scientific accuracy or complete
historical precision."
WHAT?
Muslims can expect to find nothing but scientific accuracy in the Qur'an, and
even historical precision.
To mention one - in Arrum - Alif Lam Mim - "Ghooli batir room" - Rome has been
defeated, but in the same Chapter or Surah, The Qur'an goes on to predict the
revival of Roma after a certain period of time - and it happened.
Despite the myriad of critics and detractors, including some from Muslim
familes, such as the so-called "progressive" Irshad Manji, and of course the
darling of them all, Salman Rushdie, Islam continues to flourish.
Here is Salman Rushdie in The Australian of 3rd Ocotober, spruiking for his new
book "Shalimar The Clown", :
"Beware the dangerous obsolescence of Islam, the mad, bad old men stuck in the
17th century, trying to make the modern world back with them, instead of moving
forward."
It seems these detractors of Islam will employ just about anything, including,
to borrow a boxing term, hitting under the belt, to rubbish Islam.
But of course all in vain.
Here are some statistics to support this contention.
"In Britain the proportion of those stating "no religion" has grown from 31 per
cent to 44 per cent in the past 20 years and only 5 per cent of young people go
to church regularly.
In most of Northern Europe about 40 persen of the population belongs to a
religion, while in Australia about 30 persen have no religion." Unquote.
So?
Perhaps other religions have to rely on their adherents for spreading the
gospel, while in Islam, Allah has and will continue to do the work, as he has
promised:
"Inna nahnoo nazalna aztztikra
Wa inna lahoo la hafizhoon."
Hence whereas Jews are leaving Europe, reminiscing of their ancient exodus,
Muslims in increasing numbers are settling in Europe. So much so that Italy's
second largest religious group is ------ Muslim - and Italy, according to the
neo conservative American, Daniel Pipes, is "Christianity's ancient stronghold".
Listen to this report: "There was growing fear among Jewish leaders that
Muslims were almost overtaking the Jews as the second religious group in the
USA and emerging as a potent political force as well - in the last presidential
election in the USA, most Muslims voted for George W. Bush."
Now from the British magazine The Economist - 27th March edition:
Muslims opened the 1st mosque in Granada Spain for over 500 years. The majority
of children under 14 in the 4 biggest Dutch cities - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The
Hague and Utrecht are now children of non western immigrants, most of them
Muslims. Europe largest mosque is now under construction in Rotterdam and its
minarets, when completed, will be higher than the floodlights of the
neigbouring football or soccer stadium.
More intriguing still is the report: In Brussels, the capital of The European
Union, and headquarters of NATO, Muhammad has been the most popular name for
new-born boys for the past 4 years.
Brothers in Islam, please ponder this, whose work do you think this is? Man?
Hardly likely. Muslims? Well we know that Muslims are backward, trampled upon,
troglodytes, ignoramuses, helpless, powerless, petty, fanatical,
fundamentalistic. What else? Muslims are under siege. If so how is it then that
Muslims are the second largest religious group in Italy - "Christianity's
ancient stronghold?"
Let me tell you Brothers in no uncertain terms: There is divine intervention in
this! "Wa hua 'ala kullisyai in qadiir".
Muslims all over the world might feel pessimistic, despondent, because of their
own perception of weakness and helplessness - and yet their religion, without
any conscious effort and deliberate strategy from its adherents, from Muslims
themselves, is making ever widespread inroads into "Christianity's ancient
stronghold".
It is as if Islam is "bearding the lion" like Daniel - this is a different
Daniel, not Daniel Pipes, but Daniel in the mythology - who goes into the
lion's den. Wallahu a'lam.
Bros.&Sisters in Islam.
We all have heard what Pope Benedict XVI said about our prophet Muhammad. Of
course he later claimed that he was merely quoting from some vague medieval
emperor who charged that the Prophet Muhammad only brought carnage to the world
by instructing his followers to commit violence, forcing unbelievers to convert.
Why quote a vague, almost unkown emperor? Why not quote, for example, Marshall
Drapper, who in his treatise "The Conflict between Religion (Christianity) and
Science", says among other things:
"The Nestorians found no difficulty in affliating with their Saracen (Muslim)
conquerors, by whom they were treated not only with the highest respect, but
entrusted with some of the most important offices of the state. Mohammed (pbuh)
in the strongest manner, prohibited his followers from committing any injuries
against them."
While in the teaching of the Catholic Church:
1. Heretics may be not only excommunicated, but also justly put to death
(Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol.XIV, p 768)
2. We declare, say, define and pronounce that every being should be subject to
the Roman Pontiff (Encyclopedia, Vol XV p.126).
And:
"We believe that the rulers of a Catholic country have the right to restrict
the activity of those who would lead their people away from their allegiance to
the Catholic Church. They possess the right to prevent propaganda against the
Church. This is merely a logical conclusion from the basic tenet that the Son
of God established one religion and commanded all men to accept it under pain
of eternal damnation."
Well, well, well - talk about the freedom to worship. Islam is categorical and
unambigious about coercion - it is haram. Wallahu a'lam.#
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